Hokkien Chinese Borrowings on Cookery in Tagalog
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ISSN 1799-2591 Theory and Practice in Language Studies, Vol. 2, No. 3, pp. 566-571, March 2012 © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER Manufactured in Finland. doi:10.4304/tpls.2.3.566-571 Hokkien Chinese Borrowings on Cookery in Tagalog Xuebo Cui English Department, Yanbian University, Yanji, China Email: [email protected] Abstract—This paper attempts to examine the Tagalog loanwords of Hokkien origin in the domain of cookery through the semantic analyses. Taxonomic analysis to the Hokkien loanwords on cookery provided superordinate and subordinate levels which showed the hierarchical relationships of the lowest-level categories to the highest-level ones. Percentages of loanwords under each category on three different levels were taken into consideration. Based on the analysis, generalization on the nature of loanwords in the domains was made. The findings reveal the fact that these terms of food and ways of cooking which were commonly identified with the Hokkien Chinese were readily accepted by the Tagalog speakers. Index Terms—Min Nan Chinese, Hokkien, tagalog, loanwords, cookery, taxonomic analysis I. INTRODUCTION The practice of taking a word from a foreign language and introducing it into another is called ‗borrowing‘ and the words thus ‗borrowed‘ are known as loan words. It is worth mentioning from the outset that, as Crystal (1997, p.332) observed, since no language ever took a word from another language with the intention of one day returning it, and since such words are never returned, even once they have outstayed their welcome in the borrowing language, both of these terms are misnomers. It is more accurate to speak of one language copying words from another language (Crowley, 1997, p.155). It is also important to understand that this is not a modern phenomenon brought about by globalization but has always taken place whenever different language communities come into contact with each other. The Tagalog language is an Austronesian language spoken as a first language by a third of the population of the Philippines and as a second language by most of the rest (Philippine Census, 2000). It is the first language of the Philippine region IV (CALABARZON and MIMAROPA) and of Metro Manila. Its standardized form, commonly called Filipino, is the national language and one of two official languages of the Philippines. It is related to—though not readily intelligible with—other Austronesian languages such as Malay, Javanese, and Hawaiian. Tagalog, due to its history of connections with the rest of Asia, and the influence of European colonization, has developed a unique vocabulary since its inception from its Austronesian roots. Tagalog vocabulary is composed mostly of words of Austronesian origin with borrowings from Spanish, Hokkien Chinese, English, Malay, Sanskrit, Arabic, Tamil, Persian, Kapampangan, languages spoken on Luzon, and others, especially other Austronesian languages. Thorp (1972) reveals that fourty-two percent of Tagalog lexical entries are of foreign origin and the remaining fifty-eight percent are Tagalog in origin. Among the fourty-two percent of foreign words, thirty-three percent are Spanish words, three percent are Min Nan Chinese (Hokkien), and four percent are Malay. The rest two percent are English, Sanskrit and Arabic origin. Hokkien is a group of mutually intelligible Min Nan Chinese dialects spoken by many overseas Chinese throughout Southeast Asia. It is originated from the same dialect in southern Fujian and is mutually intelligible with the Hokkien in Taiwan. It is closely related to Teochew, though mutual comprehension is difficult, and somewhat more distantly related to Hainanese. The Amoy and Taiwanese prestige dialect are considered standards (Kane, 2006). Beyer (1948) states the possibility of a racial link between the people of the Philippines and the ancestors of the Chinese by tracing the major migratory waves that occurred in the Philippines back to the Chinese mainland and Indo-China. The first wave of immigrants which came about 3000 B.C. or 5000 to 6000 years ago introduced a much advanced culture and craftsmanship. The second wave came during 1500 B.C., which brought practiced extensive dry agriculture and cultivated upland rice, taro, yams and other food crops. The third wave which took place between 800 and 500 B.C. was ascribed the construction of the rice terraces (Beyer, 1947, as cited in Yap, 1974, p.2). The latter wave of immigrants from mainland China which came at about 300 to 500 A.D. brought the Jar-Burial culture. The use of jars for burying the bones of ancestors was particularly identified with migrations from the province of Fukien. It is believed that the waves of migrations constitute the beginning of relationships between the ancestors of the Filipinos and of the Chinese which were mainly commercial. Heavy trading between the Chinese and the Filipino trader continued until the arrival of the Spaniards in 1521. It is apparent that the single largest group of Chinese which has trade relations with Filipinos came from the province of Fukien. As a result, many Chinese loanwords, especially Hokkien were gained, some examples are as in Table 1. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES 567 TABLE 1: LIST OF TAGALOG LOANWORDS FROM HOKKIEN Tagalog Hokkien Meaning apo a–kong grandchild/ren in Tagalog; Grandfather in Kokkien ate a–chí eldest sister bakya ba k-kia h wooden sandals batchoy bah-chúi pork in soup bihon bí-hún rice vermicelli bitsin bī-cheng monosodium glutamate daw tao He said/she said/they said/it was said/reportedly/supposedly ditse dī–chí second eldest sister hikaw hī–kau earrings jusi hù-si cloth made from pineapple fibers ingkong a–kong grandfather kuya keh–ya eldest brother lumpia jūn-piá spring rolls mami bah-mī meat and noodles in soup pancit pi n- -si t noodles with sauce petsay pe h-chhài Chinese cabbage pesa sa h plain boiled santse san–chí third eldest sister siyansi chian-sî spoon-like kitchen turner/spatula siyopaw/siopao sio-pau dough ball filled with pork/beef/carabao meat sotanghon so-tang-hun cellophane noodles tikoy tih–ke Chinese New Year‘s cake tokwa t u-koa soybean curd totso t u–i -chh -hî sauteed fish toyo t u–iû soy sauce tausi t u-si fermented black beans The present paper studies the Tagalog loanwords of Hokkien origin, especially those in the domains of cookery. Specifically, the study will concentrate on the semantic analysis of the Tagalog loanwords of Hokkien origin on cookery. The number of loanwords in the domain of cookery is rather large, and is the most homogeneous of the loanwords (Yap, 1974, p8). The study is important because of its relevance to Philippine culture and national development. In addition, the long influence of Chinese on Philippine life and culture can be revealed. II. SEMANTIC ANALYSIS OF HOKKIEN LOANDS ON COOKERY Preliminary research investigates that there are one hundred sixty three Hokkien Chinese loanwords in present Tagalog (Yap, 1974, p. v). There is considerable number of loanwords in the domain of cookery in Tagalog which includes items whose origins are unquestionably Hokkien. Yap (1974) applied a kind of semantic analysis - a taxonomic analysis to analyze the Tagalog loanwords of Hokkien origin on cookery. Taxonomic analysis is commonly used in zoology and botany for the classification of flora and fauna. It classifies sets of contrasting categories hierarchically into successive levels or taxa, with the categories at any one level being included in a category at the next higher level (Frake, 1946, p. 196). More than two lower levels or taxa can belong to the next highest level or taxon (Bendix, 1966, p. 5). Taxonomies are said to be bi-dimensional: a horizontal one of discrimination and a vertical one of generalization. Yap reveals that a great number of the Hokkien Loanwords on cookery is concentrated on raw, although the loanwords under the category of cooked constitute also a high percentage; the category instruments has the smallest number of loanwords. On a lower level of taxonomic analysis, the following categories have a higher ranking than others: meat, vegetables and soy bean products, indicating that the Tagalog borrowed heavily in these areas. The category boiled and steamed ranked highest under the level manner of cooking. These finding confirms the general impression that such manner of cooking is very common among the Hokkien people. A. Taxonomy of Hokkien Loanwords on Cookery Table 2 shows the taxonomic structure of the Hokkien loanwords on cookery. It contains three superordinate categories, and nineteen subordinate categories which are presented in a manner that can best capture the structural relationship that exits between them. © 2012 ACADEMY PUBLISHER 568 THEORY AND PRACTICE IN LANGUAGE STUDIES TABLE 2: TAXONOMY OF TAGALOG COOKERY TERMS OF HOKKIEN ORIGIN (YAP, 1974, P.144) Food Raw Meat Pork cuts tito Beef cuts goto Fish & seafood tuwabak Fowls ulikba Vegetable petsay Soybean prod. tokuwa Rice prod. bihon Flour prod. misuwa Cooked Food preparation toyo Type of food Meat goto Vegetable petsay Soy bean prod. taho Rice prod. bihon Flour prod. miswa Manner of cooking Fried ukoy Boiled steamed siyopaw Stewed humba Soupy mami Instruments siyanse Meat is a superordinate level that contains the loanwords on uncooked meat cuts coming from four categories: Pork cuts (eg. tito ―pig‘s trip‖), Beef cuts (eg. goto ―ox trip‖), Fowls (eg. ulikba ―white-feathered or light-skinned fowls with dark meat‖), and Fish and sea food (eg. tuwabak ―big-eyed herring‖). Vegetable covers all loanwords on uncooked vegetables. There is no further distinction made within this category, for example, petsay ―Chinese cabbage‖ and kintsay ―celery‖. Soybean product is also a category by itself. It covers all loanwords on uncooked bean products. For example, tokuwa ―soybean curd‖, tahuri ―fermented salted soybean curd‖.